Telling Remus
by Amy227
Summary: Dumbledore has to tell Remus that all of his friends are gone, it's easily one of the hardest things he's had to do in his life.


**A/N: **Sorry about the minor errors in places... I've looked for all the ones I could find but knowing my luck, there's still about 20 in here (sorry)

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine :(

* * *

Words couldn't describe how much sympathy Dumbledore felt for Remus. Things had been pretty chaotic recently, but Dumbledore had to tell Remus that, within 24 hours, 3 of his best friends were dead and one was facing a life long trail in Azkaban. He had no idea how he would do this, he wanted to tell Remus about the incident slowly, but what would his reaction be? The four boys had been inseperable at Hogwarts and he knew Remus was very fond of Lily.

He owled Remus as soon as he could when he ehard the news; he didn't want Remus to find out by somebody else telling him.

So now Dumbledore was expecting Remus any moment now.

Remus came as soon as he could and Dumbledore studied him carefully.

"Sorry, Headmaster, I came as soon as-" he cut off after seeing Dumbledore's grim expression. "What's happened?" Remus asked, a confused expression etched across his face.

"Remus, please take a seat." the Headmaster said, signifying the seat in front of his desk.

Remus frowned but obeyed the order and sat down.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, concernedly.

Poor boy, Dumbledore thought. He really had no idea...

"Remus... have you- have you seen the news recently?" Dumbledore asked, tying to choose his words carefully.

Still frowning, Remus shook his head and said "No."

Dumbledore sighed and said shakely, "Remus, Sirius has gone to Azkaban." He was going to see Remus' reaction to this before dropping the bombshell on him.

Remus sighed heavily and put his head in his hands warily.

"Oh Merlin... what's the idiot done now?" he moaned.

"Murder," Dumbledore said slowly. "Sirius has murdered James and Lily Potter, along with Peter Pettigrew."

Dumbledore watched Remus again. He didn't know emotions could change so quickly. One second Remus' face showed Shock, warriness, worry.

Now, he looked horrified and disbelieving.

Remus opened and closed his mouth several times before repeating "Sirius..."

Dumbledore remained silent, but watching Remus feel the pain nobody should experience was heart-breaking.

"No..." Remus whispered, looking at Dumbledore as if begging him to tell him it was all a joke, that James, Peter and Lily were fine, that Sirius wasn't in Azkaban, he was outside, waiting to laugh and reasure him that he wouldn't get rid of him that easily.

But Dumbledore remained silent.

"But... James... _Sirius wouldn't_..." Remus muttered, more to himself than Dumbldore.

"Remus, would you like a glass of water?" Dumbledore asked, realising how pale the boy looked.

Remus shook his head slowly, then hoarsley replied, "Professor... you've got it all wrong. Sirius... Sirius would rather kill himself than any one of us."

"He didn't kill James and Lily directly." Dumbledore said quietly.

Remus looked at Dumbledore, his head tilted slightly.

"He, being their secret keeper, told Voldemort of their whereabouts. James' body was found at the bottom of the stairs and Lily's was foun in Harry's bedroom." Dumbledore continued.

Suddenly, something occured to Remus, but before he spoke, Dumbledore added, "Harry's fine. He survived. Voldemort cast the killing curse, but, somehow, it bounced off Harry and killed Voldemort instead."

Remus was dumbfounded. A baby? Killing Voldemort?

"Am I dreaming?" Remus asked. This was all too much to take in... so surely he was dreaming, right? "I'm afraid not." Dumbledore replied, sadly.

"So," Remus began. "Sirius was a death eater. He told Voldemort where James and Lily lived, and as a result, Voldemort killed Lily and James, then attempted to kill Harry, a _mere one-year old_, but something about Harry sheilded him so the curse not protected only him, but bounced off and killed Voldemort?" Remus repeated quickly, frowning again and not losing eye-contact with Dumbledore, who nodded.

"You're crazy." Remus said, his voice cracking. He knew Dumbledore wouldn't lie to him about this but he wasn't going to believe him, and Dumbledore understood.

"Remus, why am I crazy?" Dumbledore asked, completely calm.

"Because," Remus began. "Why the hell would Sirius betray James? They've been best friends since we were eleven, they've stuck together through thick and thin, I've never known anything like it," by this point Remus was choking on tears. "James trusted Sirius with his life, Sirius would never murder James, he's a little messed up 60% of the time but even Sirius isn't that good at acting, nobody can act a friendship like that." He paused and looked at Dumbledore, whilst catching his breath and wiping the tears out of his eyes before asking his next question. "And what's so special about Harry? He's just a baby, he knows nothing, greater wizards have died at the hands of Voldemort, skilled, intelligent wizards, Harry is... just a... baby! He can't even walk or talk properly yet! Why did he live, I mean, yes, he's a great kid with good potential but... just a baby..." Remus added under is breath.

Dumbledore still remained silent, still watching Remus. He wasn't going to answer any questions until Remus was finished.

"Wait," Remus said suddenly." "You only mentioned James and Lily's bodies. What happened to Peter?"

"Peter went to Godrics Hollow shortly after James and Lily were murdereed. In a fit of rage, he tracked down Sirius and tried to duel him... but..." Dumbledore sighed. "Sirius is much cleverer. He killed him. And also Muggles surrounding the area. Peter's body wasn't found, Remus, only a finger. I'm so sorry." There was a bried silence.

"I'm going to be sick." Remus muttered.

"How about that glass of water?" Dumbledore asked, summoning a glass and filling it with water. Remus took the glass but did not drink it. He stared into space as he finally let the words sink in.

_James, Lily and Peter were dead._

No more drinking and having fun with the Marauders. No more teasing Peter. No more advice and intelligent conversations with Lily. No more mock-arguing with Sirius, and no more joking around with James.

_No more full moons with his best friends in the world._

"Where's Harry?" Remus asked, looking at the floor, his voice tight.

"With his Auntie and Uncle."

"Petunia?" Remus asked. He'd heard Lily talk about her and he wasn't entirely sure about Harry being brought up by her and her husband.

"I've left a note. He's perfectly safe there. Trust me." Dumbledore replied.

"Right," Remus mumbled. I guess that means no more playing with Harry too then, he thought. "So... that's it then."

Dumbledore looked at him with pity. "You're going to be alright, Remus?"

"I don't know." Remus lied. "I guess... that I'll just have to... I don't know. I just want to be alone. Remus added, and he put the untouched glass of water on the desk before standing, thanking Dumbledore and walking out from the orrice.

Was he going to be alright?

Definately not.

Not for a long while, anyway.


End file.
